NBA Legend Kobe Bryant Says American Basketball Is 'Stupid' Thanks To One Thing

Kobe Bryant is unquestionably a future Hall of Famer, and will go down as one of the best players to ever lace 'em up. So when the Los Angeles Lakers star says he has a problem with American basketball, people listen.

The 36-year-old recently ripped into the United States' ability to develop young ballers.

"I just think European players are just way more skillful," Bryant told ESPN LA. "They are just taught the game the right way at an early age ... They're more skillful. It's something we really have to fix. We really have to address that. We have to teach our kids to play the right way."

What's the problem? AAU basketball, a system of amateur leagues that allow players to get up shots year-round. But Bryant thinks the organization doesn't promote the correct fundamentals.

"It's stupid," Bryant said. "It doesn't teach our kids how to play the game at all so you wind up having players that are big and they bring it up and they do all this fancy crap and they don't know how to post. They don't know the fundamentals of the game. It's stupid.

"When you have limitations and you understand your limitations and you stay within yourself, you can be great."

Bryant noted that the world champion San Antonio Spurs are "90 percent" European, and alos cited the success of Spanish brothers Pau and Marc Gasol. Growing up in Italy, Bryant never played AAU ball, and he's happy for it.

"I probably wouldn't be able to dribble with my left and shoot with my left and have good footwork," he said.

This year has been full of ups and downs for Bryant. He returned from a severe Achilles injury and managed to pass Michael Jordan on the all-time points leaderboard, but he's been wildly inefficient for most of the season, and was recently deemed the least clutch player in the league by SB Nation.

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Nba, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan